Blog

09 Dec / 2014

What a weekend! First of all, a huge THANK YOU to everyone who made it out to Tasty Burger, Daedalus, and the Hong Kong on a fairly gross Saturday night. It was really great to see all of you in your street clothes and even greater having a little extracurricular fun with you. An even BIGGER thanks goes out to to Neal, without whom the night would have been impossible. It’s truly been an honor to work with such a great team and membership at CFB. Rather than talk at length about our upcoming move (there’s some blah blah blah paperwork that has been completed and some other blah blah blah paperwork that is hasn’t been completed), and talk about our next Team Throwdown (save the date: Saturday, January 31st!), I’d like to share with you a little piece I would like to call:

CFB Holiday Party by the numbers:

Number of burgers consumed at Tasty Burger pre-party: 6

Number of attendees: 50-ish at Daedalus

Number of backless dresses: 2

Number of first-time stiletto wearers: 1+?

Number of bottles of bubbly consumed: 16

Number of Old Fashions fashioned: 30+

Number of cherries in Coach Mike’s drinks: 9

Number of dessert plates devoured: 16

Number of toasts given: 0

Number of times Jobert filled my bubbly glass: probably 9

Number of people who made the trek to the Hong Kong: 20-ish

Number of pupu platters demolished: 2 (plus 1/2, if you include the leftovers that Natalie scored from some new friends)

Number of scorpion bowls sucked down: 6, though I’m a little fuzzy on this one…

Number of minutes we waited until the third floor opened: about 40

Number of coats we fit on one hook on the coat rack on the second floor: 12

Number of randos that wanted to join our crew: at least one

Number of times we dropped it to the floor: 21

Number of times we turned down for what: 15

Number of times we put our hands up for Detroit: 9

Number of panda dogs in attendance: 1

Number of members I went home with: 1

Number of members who showed up on Sunday morning: 15

Number of members who showed up to Afternoon Tea on Sunday afternoon: 5

Number of ciders consumed post-Afternoon Tea: 2

Number of beautiful CFB ladies in the house: too many to count

Number of people who I should credit for photos used in this post: At least two (Judith and Shannon), but I think one more — sorry for forgetting!

Now is the time to begin thinking about what you would like to get from your training with the New Year quickly coming upon us. When you are setting a goal remember to make it S.M.A.R.T.

S-pecific – What do you want to accomplish? Why? Don’t overlook the importance of WHY. For example, “I want to lose 10 pounds so my pants fit better and I can be more active with my children” is a specific with a very powerful WHY.

M-easurable – It must be quantifiable otherwise there is no way to know when you it is completed. “I want to get in shape” is not measurable. What does that mean?

A-chievable – Your goal must be attainable. It can and should be a challenge but it cannot be extreme. For example, if I were to say that I want to be 200 pounds that would not be attainable unless I am willing to remove one of my appendages.

R-ealistic – If I were to say that I want to run a marathon in 2 hours and 5 minutes, you would look at me and say, “Awesome Neal, you f*@#ing NUT”. However, If I say I want to run a marathon in 4 hours, now I am being realistic and a training plan can be laid out to complete it. The last two parts, achievable and realistic, allow you to start answering the question HOW to get it done.

T-ime bound – The last part is you need to put a time frame as to when you would like to reach your goal. Lets go back to my first example, “I want to lose 10 pounds so I can be more active with my kids”. By when? Next year? Tomorrow? If this step is skipped it is too easy for it to get lost in the day-to-day demands that arise.

If I rephrase my goal as, “I want to lose 10 pounds in 35 days so that I can be more active with my kids and lead a more fulfilling family life” then it meets all the requirements of a S.M.A.R.T. goal. It has a “WHY” and I can come up with a plan on “HOW” to get it done.

Once you have decided WHAT you want to achieve this year, reach out to your Coach and we can help you put together the plan. Failing to Plan, is Planning to Fail!

03 Dec / 2014

Hey CFB! I hope you had an amazing Thanksgiving and you’re fired up for getting strong this month! In the spirit of getting stronger individually and as a community, this month I’m hosting a Toy Drive! What better way to improve ourselves and our community than to show our support for others, especially those serving our country. Checkout the details below and show your support by donating a toy at class this Saturday or at the CFB Holiday Party Saturday night!

For every unwrapped toy that gets donated and placed in our toy drive box at the front of the gym by the end of classes on Saturday (11:59am), I will do 10 Burpees. 10 Toys = 100 Burpees. 20 Toys = 200 Burpees. I made you guys do a lot of burpees in the programming last month, so here is your chance to return the favor and show our support!

If you can’t donate your toy by Saturday at 11:59am, no worries. Please bring your toys to the Holiday Party at Daedalus in Harvard Square from 6pm – 9pm and I’ll bring them back to the gym for you.

Team Dangerous (“TD”) is proud to organize the second annual Toy Drive providing toys to the children of military families during the holiday season. TD is partnering with Operation Homefront to help distribute these toys. Operation Homefront is a charitable organization who provides emergency financial and other assistance to military families and wounded warriors. The toy drive gives the fitness community the opportunity to show the world the true meaning of the word community by coming together as one and provide support to the true unsung heroes of this great nation, our military families.

The 2014 Toy Drive dates will run from approximately November 23rd through December 14th when the toys will be distributed to all the well deserving military families.

03 Dec / 2014

I feel like the question “why do we need to put a label on it?” is the purview of commitment phobic men in romantic comedies or friends in a sitcom storyline who’ve wound up in the sack together a few times. But I’m starting to feel that way these days – about food. Enough people ask “hey are you still Paleo” or wonder if I’ve gone vegetarian because I’ve opted for the quinoa black bean salad instead of the steak and potatoes. Or maybe if you’ve lost a lot of weight recently, and everyone wants to know what “diet” you were on.

Here’s the thing though: why are we labeling it? Why do we need to be “paleo” or “vegan”. Because, want to know what my diet is? I’ll tell you:

I eat oatmeal for breakfast. But sometimes I also eat bacon egg and cheese sandwiches from home, or the deli in my office, who makes the best ones around.

I try to mostly eat vegetables, grass-fed or humanely raised meat, and avoid additives I’m not familiar with. I definitely eat organic meat and dairy, but draw the line at produce because shits expensive yo.

I avoid grains, because diabetes is hard and I’ve found that’s the easiest way to control my weight. But sometimes I eat sushi and I have a soft sport for a good cheeseburger and fries.

I love beer but I try to keep it to Saturdays (but sometimes it gets into Fridays or Tuesdays, too. Hey, happy hour with girlfriends happens).

So, how do you classify that diet? Am I 80/20 paleo? Am I flexitarian? Honestly, I don’t even know. What I know is, i have energy. I feel good when I stick to this basic template (and go easy on the cheeseburgers and beer). I’m happy with my weight. I don’t need to count calories. So why label it? I’m happy.

PS I think it’s the same with exercise. I wouldn’t say I’m a runner, or a CrossFitter. I’m certainly not a pole vaulter anymore (very sad sad face for that fact). I play tennis and golf occasionally, but I’m not a golfer or tennis player. What am I? Maybe I’m just active?

So what do you all think? Am I being the nutrition version of Barney Stinson, or do I have a point going here?

02 Dec / 2014

Hey guys! Our annual holiday party is happening this Saturday at 6 PM at Daedalus (45.5 Mount Auburn Street, just outside of Harvard Square). It looks like we’re going to have about fifty people so it’s bound to be a great time. I’ve been getting lots of questions/hearing lots of chatter about what people will be wearing and guidance is “smart casual” and dressier. NB: I *did* hear a rumor that Coach Jen may be going backless that night…

There will be a pre-party at Tasty Burger (40 JFK Street, Harvard Square) at 5 PM. The plan is to pop in, grab a quick bite and then head on over to Daedalus by 6 PM. After enjoying some bubbles and sweets at Daedalus, the plan is to head to the Hong Kong, where the floors will be sticky and dancing will be dirty. Need I say more? Oh, please do declare your intentions HERE. In addition to the folks on the FB event, we’re expecting:

Pencilneck +1

Santa Claus

FB-official couples

Thor+1

Audrey +1

FB-unofficial couples

Natalie

Chau’s +1

Meatball +1

Linh

Paul Walker

Finally, we’re doing afternoon tea again on Sunday, December 7th at 4 PM. Last time we did Linda and this time, who knows? Maybe if we play our cards right, we’ll get some female representation… #TheBestThingsInLifeAreTea

01 Dec / 2014

Back to the grind, working hard, and giving your body some peaceful attention! That means MOBILITY, NOT “STRETCHING”! So, here is our direction this coming week, we are on for Wed. and Sat. YOU are going to pay attention to your entire body. I want everyone to shoot me an email, and let me know by Tuesday night, where you need to give your body some extra LOVE! The more I know the more you will seek happiness!

“Our mind is our instrument. Learn to be its master and NOT its slave. It may be hard before it is easy but with an open mind, you will capture the feelings in knowing life is endless.” – J.

01 Dec / 2014

Welcome back from the long weekend of food indulgence! Here is what we have going on this week. There is an emphasis on time under tension and tempo squats in addition to short, high power conditioning. Be sure to choose your weights correctly so that you can complete the conditioning in the correct time, heavier may not be better.

30 Nov / 2014

So I know I’m not the one who normally talks about food, but I was browsing the interwebs and stumbled upon this article. It’s a pretty short and interesting read. I think we sometimes reject others’ perspective because of our preferences and preconceived biases. I challenge you to read this with an open mind, regardless of whether you adhere to the paleo diet/lifestyle or the “see-food” diet (like myself as of recently). I know that food is a pretty sensitive topic for most people, but we must realize that science is constantly changing our working knowledge of what, when and how we should eat for both general health & fitness and performance. Does this stir-up any visceral emotion/reaction in you? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

27 Nov / 2014

Yesterday my Abigail’s, my 4.5 year old daughter, school performed their Thanksgiving Celebration in grand style with a performance that played out the First Thanksgiving. It was wonderful to see the hard work she had put in by practicing to and from school every day now the last 4+ weeks pay off. She was having a blast up there and she and her classmates did an excellent job.

I mention this not to brag about my daughter, though I am happy to do so, but rather it led me to think about what I am most thankful for. It’s sad that this is probably the single time where many actually express their gratitude out loud. Here goes:

I am thankful for each you as members of our community. You trust the Staff and I in leading you to a lifelong pursuit of health and fitness. It is a responsibility that I take very seriously. We have the ability to change lives and that is what we try to do each day while being the best part of your day. No small task. Thank you for the challenge and continuing support!

I am thankful for my Staff. I appreciate your efforts to give more to each member of our community. Your professionalism is inspiring. Your efforts to improve your skills is enduring and I wish you all continued success!

I am thankful for my family. My two girls for keeping me grounded and reminding me that when I walk through the doors at home, they are my priority. My wife for being such a rock and weathering the good and not so good. You all are my continued drive to create something even greater than I can imagine.

I hope that each of you enjoy the next couple of days and that you have the opportunity to express your thanks and gratitude to those dearest to you.